System, method and apparatus of simulating physics in a virtual environment

ABSTRACT

A method of simulating physics in a virtual worlds system includes selecting at least one of the client devices participating in an instance of a scene as a physics host, the physics host determining subsequent states of objects and sending the subsequent states to one or more processors of a server, the subsequent states of objects comprising one or more of: subsequent locations, orientations, velocities and accelerations determined based on characteristics of the objects and constraints for simulating physics consistent with the new instance of the scene of the virtual worlds system.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to virtual computer-generatedenvironments through which users are able to navigate.

BACKGROUND

Computer generated virtual environments are increasingly popular methodsfor people, both real and automated, to interact within a networkedsystem. Various on-line environments are known in which athree-dimensional, 2.5-dimensional or two-dimensional physical world(actual or fantasy) is simulated. Environments of this type aresometimes referred to as “virtual reality” or “virtual reality universe”(VRU) environments. In known VRU environments, an actual or fantasyuniverse is simulated within a computer memory. Multiple players mayparticipate in the environment through a computer network, such as alocal area network or a wide area network. Each player is typicallyrepresented by an “avatar,” which may comprise a figure of a man, woman,or other being, to represent them in the VRU environment. Players sendinputs to a VRU engine to move their avatars around the VRU environment,and are able to cause interaction between their avatars and objects inthe VRU. For example, a player's avatar may interact with an automatedentity or person, simulated objects, or avatars operated by otherplayers.

In order for the VRU to provide a realistic user experience, objectsincluding avatars within the VRU may be programmed to move as thoughthey are subject to physics consistent with the VRU environment. Theinclusion of gravity, wind and collisions between objects, for example,may enhance a user experience. Simulating physics in a VRU environmentuses a significant amount of processing resources, therefore, systemsand methods that efficiently manage processing demands are sought.

SUMMARY

In an aspect of the present disclosure there is provided, a method ofsimulating physics in a virtual worlds system, the method comprising:instantiating, using one or more processors of a server, a new instanceof a scene, the new instance being defined by data stored in memory, oneor more client devices displaying and participating in the new instance,at least one of the one or more client devices being selected as aphysics host; receiving, at the one or more processors, a move objectcommunication from the one or more client devices, the move objectcommunication requesting a change to one or both of: a location and anorientation of an object; in response to the move object communication,the physics host determining a subsequent state of the object andsending the subsequent state to the one or more processors, thesubsequent state comprising one or more of: a subsequent location of theobject, a subsequent orientation of the object, a subsequent velocity ofthe object and a subsequent acceleration of the object, the subsequentstate being determined based on characteristics of the object andconstraints for simulating physics consistent with the new instance ofthe scene of the virtual worlds system; retrieving, at the one or moreclient devices, the subsequent state of the object and updating adisplay at the one or more client devices to display the subsequentstate of the object.

In another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a virtualworlds system for simulating physics, comprising: one or more serversinstantiating a new instance of a scene using one or more processors ofthe one or more servers, the one or more servers configured to receive amove object communication associated with an object of the new instanceor associated with a new object to be spawned in the new instance andreceive a subsequent state of the object or new object from a physicshost, the physics host configured to determine the subsequent statebased on characteristics of the object and constraints for simulatingphysics consistent with the new instance of the scene of the virtualworlds system, the subsequent state of the object or new objectcomprising one or more of: a subsequent location, a subsequentorientation, a subsequent velocity and a subsequent acceleration; andone or more client devices in communication with the one or moreservers, the one or more client devices participating in the newinstance, one of the one or more client devices configured to send themove object communication and ones of the one or more client devicescomprising displays configured to update their respective displays inresponse to receipt of the subsequent state; wherein at least one of theone or more client devices is the physics host.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided anapparatus for simulating physics in a virtual worlds system, comprising:a physics host; one or more processors of a server system forinstantiating a new instance of a scene and for communicating with oneor more client devices participating in the new instance, the serversystem in communication with the physics host and the one or moreprocessors configured to receive a move object communication associatedwith an object of the new instance or associated with a new object to bespawned in the new instance and receive a subsequent state of the objector new object from the physics host, the physics host configured todetermine the subsequent state based on characteristics of the object ornew object and constraints for simulating physics consistent with thenew instance of the scene of the virtual worlds system, the subsequentstate of the object or new object comprising one or more of: asubsequent location, a subsequent orientation, a subsequent velocity anda subsequent acceleration; and memory of the server system for storingthe subsequent state of the object or new object; wherein the physicshost is one of the one or more client devices participating in the newinstance.

Other aspects and features of the present disclosure will becomeapparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of thefollowing description of specific embodiments in conjunction with theaccompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example computer network systemconnecting virtual worlds service providers and users;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example arrangement of virtualworlds data on a service provider, as used in an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting a method of simulating physics in avirtual worlds system;

FIG. 4 is an example screen shot of a user interface at a client devicedepicting an instance of a scene in which the client device isparticipating; and

FIG. 5 is another example screen shot of a user interface at a clientdevice depicting an instance of a scene in which the client device isparticipating.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration,where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated amongthe figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Inaddition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide athorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, itwill be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that theembodiments described herein may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures andcomponents have not been described in detail so as not to obscure theembodiments described herein. Also, the description is not to beconsidered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein.

Referring to FIG. 1, a computer network system 100 connects virtualworld service providers 102 with users 104 via a network 106. Thecomputer network system 100 is capable of rendering a VRU environmentand managing changes to the VRU environment resulting from userparticipation in the VRU environment. Examples of virtual worldssoftware usable to render and participate in virtual worlds includeCurio™ by The Virtual World Web Inc. and Second Life™.

Service providers 102 include computing devices and systems offeringvirtual worlds services. Service providers 102 may include computinghardware and/or software configured to perform one or more of theprocesses described herein. In an embodiment, multiple service providers102 may be housed on a single computing device. Service providers 102may also be distributed across multiple devices, as in cloud computingor distributed systems. In an embodiment, which is depicted in FIG. 1,each service provider 102 is hosted on a server 106 that includes aprocessor 108 and a memory 110. According to another embodiment, inorder to use the computational ability of the computer network system100 as a whole, some functions of the server(s) may be provided by theusers. This distributed computing structure may allow for more powerfulcomputational abilities, as the full computer power of all users may beutilized to provide some or all server functions to the network. In thisembodiment, some or all of the users may function as both clients andservers.

Service providers 102 communicate via one or more networks 106 withusers 104. The networks 106 may include, for example, Internet networks,cellular networks, local area networks, wide area networks, wirelessnetworks, Ethernet networks, and so on, as well as combinations thereof.Users 104 may include user computing devices having user interfacesincluding a display 112 and an input device 114 or a touch-sensitiveuser interface that functions as a display and an input device, forexample, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, mobile computingdevices, mobile phones and tablets, for example. The term “user”throughout this specification may be used to refer to a user or clientdevice such as the aforementioned and/or an entity, such as anindividual, operating such a device, as appropriate to the context ofthe term.

In a virtual reality embodiment, a user interface of the client deviceincludes a head-mounted, or immersive, display. Examples of suchdisplays include Occulus Rift™ by Occulus VR Inc. and Morpheus™ by SonyComputer Entertainment Inc. In the virtual reality embodiment, the userinput may be received through other client device components, such as acontroller, a joystick, a gesture input device such as a hand gestureinput device, for example, a haptics device, or a motion detectiondevice such as Leap Motion™, for example, a microphone or other inputdevice, for example. Additional devices and systems may be included inthe system of FIG. 1. For example, service providers 102 may communicatewith common data stores, such as account databases, registration orauthentication servers and management servers, for example. Such use ofcentralized systems may allow service providers 102 to easilysynchronize and coordinate among each other, for example, to coordinateavatar location transitions, to synchronize user accounts, and so on.

FIG. 2 shows an example arrangement of virtual worlds data, as used inan embodiment. The blocks represent types of data objects, andinterconnections may represent relationships among the data elements,such as pointers, references, subclass relationships, or the like. Datastructures may be stored on computer-readable media of the server system102, for example, such as a hard drive, SSD, tape backup, distributedstorage, cloud storage, and so on, and may be structured as relationaldatabase tables, flat files, C structures, programming language objects,database objects, and the like. In various embodiments, additionalelements may be included, some elements may be removed, and/or elementsmay be arranged differently from what is shown.

Service provider 102 may be represented as a data object with generaldata relating to the service provider. The service provider 102 maymaintain accounts 200 for users of the service provider. The accountobjects 200 may include relevant data relating to users, such asusernames, authentication information, attribute information, personalinformation, and so on. Each account may further be associated with oneor more avatars 202, which the user may select for appearing in avirtual world. The service provider 102 may allow users to maintainmultiple avatars, may restrict users to a single avatar or may allowusers to navigate through a VRU as observers with no avatar, in variousembodiments. When allowing users 104 to maintain multiple avatars, aservice provider 102 may allow users to take on different appearancesand personas in different situations, as selected by the users 104and/or the service provider 102.

The service provider 102 may further maintain worlds 204. Each world 204may represent a virtual space in which avatars may interact. The serviceprovider 102 may maintain multiple virtual worlds 204, and each virtualworld 204 may be operated by different users 104 or administrators ofservice provider 102.

Virtual worlds 204 may in turn include scenes 206. Scenes 206 representvirtual locations where users may visit and enter. A scene 206 may bedefined by various attributes such as appearance, size, furniture,included items, architecture and so on. Scripts may also be included aspart of the scene 206. Scripts are generally software based instructionsthat, when executed, result in changes to the scene 206. Scripts may beexecuted in response to user actions, may be executed at specifiedtimes, or may be executed in response to trigger events. For example,curtains covering a stage may be opened in response to an avatar pullinga cord, may be opened when a concert start time is reached or may beopened when the capacity of the concert venue reaches a predeterminedsize.

In some situations, it may be desirable to have a single scene 200available but have avatars enter different copies of that scene. Suchcopies are implemented by instances 208. An instance 208 represents arunning version of a scene, and users 104 interact within instances 208of scenes 206. In an embodiment, the computer network system 100includes one or more servers in communication with the service providers102 to operate as instance hosts that run the instances 208. The serviceprovider 102 may use rules specified for a particular scene 206 in orderto determine when to create a new instance. For example, one may createa scene arranged to appear like a virtual tennis court, and it may bedesirable for pairs of tennis players to be provided distinct copies ofthe scene rather than making all players use the same virtual space. So,a new instance would be initiated each time a pair of tennis playersenters the virtual tennis court and instances that are currently runninghave reached capacity.

New instances may also be created based on time intervals, avatar userrequests, availability of objects within each instance, and so on. Inone embodiment, an environment may automatically change, or the avatarsmay be automatically transported, when a threshold event takes place.For example, avatars waiting to play poker may be automaticallytransported to the poker room when eight avatars have signed up for thetable. In another example, a prospective tennis player may wait in awaiting room until another tennis player arrives and the waiting room istransformed into a tennis court.

Instances may originally be configured based on the specification of theunderlying scene. For example, a newly created instance may be arrangedto have the same contained items, the same appearance, the same size,the same scripts and so on, with respect to the scene. In alternateembodiments, the scene may include instructions that randomize orotherwise alter the nature of each new instance. As users interact withan instance of a scene, those avatars may cause changes to the containeditems, appearance, and so on. Such changes may or may not be reflectedback to the original scene, to other copies of the scene or otherinstances of the scene, possibly depending on the configuration of thescene. Additionally, in an embodiment, new instances may be based onexisting instances, rather than being based on the original scenes.

Within a service provider, worlds 204, scenes 206, and instances 208 maybe represented as data structure objects, such as document objects, forexample. The document objects are encoded in a descriptive language anddefine respective 3-D, 2.5-D or 2-D modeled objects or spaces. Serviceproviders may include software to convert these objects to graphical orother representations. The software may be operated on the serviceprovider to generate those representations. Additionally or alternately,client software operating on user devices may perform the translation ofdata structure objects to graphical representations.

In order for one or more users 104 to interact in a virtual world, thesystem 100 instantiates, in memory at one or more servers 106, aninstance of a scene defined by a collection of document objects. Theservice provider 102, or another system component, controls contents ofthe collection of document objects in response to signals received atone or more processors from one or more client devices of the users 104.The service provider 102, or another system component, receives, at oneor more processors, data requesting changes to an instance of a sceneincluding at least location and orientation of objects modeled in thescene. The term “objects” generally includes all items and avatars thatare present in an instance of a scene. Boundaries, such as walls, forexample, may also be referred to as objects. Data representing thechanges is then provided to the one or more users so that an eventplaying out in an instance of a scene may be experienced insubstantially real time by users 104.

In order for movement of objects in the instance of the scene to appearrealistic, calculations are performed to simulate physical conditionsconsistent with the virtual world on the objects. Physical conditionsmay be simulated by spawning objects and determining paths for objectsthrough an instance of a scene that avoid other objects, applyinggravitational and drag forces, applying frictional forces, determiningcollisions between objects and accounting for elasticity of contactingsurfaces when collisions occur between objects. For example, when anobject is dropped in an instance of a scene, physics calculationsdetermine if the object hits the floor or if the object hits anotherobject that supported by the floor, such as a table, for example.Physics calculations further determine how fast the falling objectfalls, the direction of the falling path and if the falling objectbounces when it hits the floor or table.

Different types of virtual worlds may subject the objects thereof todifferent types of physical conditions, and therefore, different typesof physics calculations may be performed. Examples of types of virtualworlds in which objects may be subject to different physical conditionsinclude: earth world, underwater world and outer space world, forexample. Other worlds having the same or different associated physicscalculations are also possible.

Prior to, or when, a new instance of a scene is instantiated, a “physicshost” for performing calculations for the virtual world system 100 isdetermined. The physics host may alternatively be determined in responseto a need for physics calculations. A single client device may be thephysics host or more than one client device may be the physics host.Although all client devices may be capable of determining subsequentstates of moved objects, the physics host is the client device(s) thatis selected by the server 106. Criteria for determining which clientdevice(s) the server 106 will use as a physics host include: latency ofdata transmission from the client(s), processing availability of clientdevices or trusted status of the client(s), for example. Further,different client devices may be the physics host for different types ofphysics calculations or successive physics calculations. In order toselect the physics host, the server 106 sends a request to one or morepotential physics hosts and the selection(s) is confirmed using ahandshake communication between the server 106 and the one or morephysics hosts. The physics host is then granted a higher level of accessto the collection of document objects at the server 106 than otherclient devices, which allows the physics host to update content of thecollection of document objects with respect to physics calculations.

Referring to FIG. 3, a method of simulating physics in a virtual worldssystem is shown. Following instantiation of a new instance of a scene ata server 106 in which one or more client devices participate, a moveobject communication is received 300 at one or more processors 108 ofthe server from one of the one or more client devices participating inthe instance. In response to the move object communication, a moveobject command is inserted 302 into the collection of document objects.The move object communication may be generated in response to a userinput, such as pressing a button or selecting from a drop-down menu, forexample, in response to a time being reached or in response to triggerevents, such as capacity of an instance reaching a threshold, forexample.

The move object communication includes a movement type such as objectprojectile, drop object, path object and spin object, for example.Depending on the movement type, the communication may further includeone or more of: a velocity to indicate speed and direction of objectmovement, an acceleration to indicate rate of change of object velocity,a jerk to indicate rate of change of object acceleration and an endlocation of an object to be moved along a path. A subsequent state isthen determined by the physics host. The subsequent state of the objectincludes one or more of: a subsequent location of the object, asubsequent orientation of the object, a subsequent velocity of theobject, a subsequent acceleration of the object and a subsequent jerk ofthe object. The server 102 receives 306 the subsequent state of theobject from the physics host and writes the change to the collection ofdocument objects. The one or more client devices participating in theinstance then update 308 their respective displays with the subsequentstate of the object.

In one embodiment, the client device that operates as the physics hostdoes not include a user interface. In this embodiment, the client deviceis not operable as an observer in a virtual world nor is the clientdevice able to instantiate an avatar in the VRU.

The subsequent states are sent from the physics host at regularintervals until the object on which the physics calculations are beingperformed comes to a rest. For example, the regular intervals may bethree times per second. Other longer or shorter intervals are alsopossible.

The subsequent state of the object is determined based oncharacteristics of the object and constraints for simulating virtualworld consistent physics. The characteristics are linked to the objectas one or more child nodes, for example, and include frictionalcoefficients of object surfaces, degree of elasticity of object surfacesand object mass, for example. Constraints include boundaries present inthe instance of the scene and gravitational or other forces to beapplied. For example, in an underwater world buoyancy and drag due towater may be applied and in an outer space world, gravitational forcesmay be omitted. Software for applying physics to computer generatedobjects is known in the art. Software applications such as NVIDIA®PhysX® Physics by Unity Technologies or Havok Physics™ by Havok™, forexample, may be used.

A spawn object command causes an object previously not present in theinstance of the scene to be displayed. New objects may be spawned inresponse to a user input, such as pressing a button or selecting from adrop-down menu, for example, in response to a time being reached or inresponse to trigger events, such as capacity of an instance reaching athreshold, for example. Newly spawned objects are subject to physicsupon being spawned in the instance of the scene. The spawn objectcommand may include a move object child node accompanied by a movementtype so that when the new object appears in the instance of the scene,the new object's behavior is consistent with the physical conditions ofthe virtual world. For example, a ball that is spawned in mid-air willfall to the floor, furniture that is spawned will be placed in an emptyspot on the floor and avatars that are spawned will not land on top ofother objects in the instance of the scene unless further commands areprovided to do so.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that any number ofmovement types may be possible and that in addition to being linked toobjects, a movement type may be linked to a volume in an instance of ascene that may or may not include objects. In addition, the movementtypes may be customized based on the type of virtual world. For example,in a tennis match virtual world, multiple object projectile commands maybe included to simulate overhead serves, volleys and baseline shots.Further, the different movement types may be associated with differenttypes of tennis rackets or degrees of wear on the tennis balls atdifferent points in the match, for example.

The subsequent state of the object may further include a subsequentshape or a subsequent form. A subsequent shape may be included to depictthe elasticity of an object. For example, a bouncing ball may deform andappear more oblong in shape when it collides with an object, such as awall, for example. A subsequent form may be included when the objectchanges position in response to movement. For example, a dish may breakinto several pieces in response to falling and hitting the floor whenthe impact occurs above a threshold velocity. In an embodiment, clientdevices interpolate between subsequent states received from the server106 in order to display realistic object movement. For example,subsequent states may be sent at three times per second, which mayresult in a moving object appearing to snap between positions ratherthan moving naturally. By interpolating at the client device,intermediate positions between the subsequent states may smooth out themovement and contribute to realistic object movement. In addition toimproving the quality of the user experience, interpolating between thesubsequent states saved at the server 106 to provide one or more statestherebetween may result in less data transmission, which may reduce theprocessing load on the physics host and improve overall efficiency ofthe system 100.

Continued reference is made to FIG. 3 with additional reference to FIGS.4 and 5 to describe one example of a method of simulating physics in avirtual worlds system. An example of an instance of a scene that hasbeen instantiated by the service provider 102 is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.In this example, an avatar 400 is located on a first floor 402 of abuilding and a dog 404 is located on a second floor 406. A move objectcommunication having a path object movement type is received 300 at theserver 106 in response to a user input at a client device indicatingthat the user associated with avatar 400 would like to call the dog 404.The server then inserts 302 a move object command into the content ofthe collection of document objects to determine a subsequent locationand form of the dog 404 to the physics host. The command includesidentification of the object, which is the dog 404 and the end locationand form for the dog 404, which is beside the avatar 400 in a sittingposition. The physics host determines 304 subsequent locations and formsof the dog 404 by determining a path 500. The path 500 avoids collisionswith other objects in the scene, such as bed 410, and is constrained byboundaries, such as the walls 408, the floor 412 and the stairs 414. Thedog 404 takes different forms when rising from a lying down position,walking across the floor 412, walking down the stairs 414 and sitting.The physics host sends the subsequent locations and forms to the server106 at which the change is written to the collection of documentobjects. The client devices participating in the instance then update308 their respective displays with the subsequent state of the object.

According to another example, in which a user participates in an archerycompetition, a move object communication having an object projectilemovement type is received 300 at the server 106 in response to a userinput to shoot an arrow. The server then inserts 302 a command todetermine a subsequent location and orientation of the arrow into thecollection of document objects. The command includes identification ofthe object, which is the arrow, and the velocity (i.e. speed anddirection of travel) of the arrow. The physics host then determines 304subsequent locations and orientations of the arrow by calculating theeffect of gravitational and drag forces, which cause the arrow todecelerate as it travels along a trajectory. The subsequent locationsand orientations are sent at regular intervals until the motion of thearrow is complete. The physics host sends the subsequent locations andorientations to the server 106, which receives 306 the data and writesthe subsequent locations and orientations to the collection of documentobjects. The client devices participating in the instance of the sceneretrieve the subsequent states and update their respective displays.

In a virtual reality embodiment, the user may use one or more controllercomponents that simulate a bow and arrow in combination with ahead-mounted display to participate in the instance. In this embodiment,the perspective of the user may be from behind their avatar or may befrom within a head of their avatar such that the user may look down,through the head-mounted display, and view their avatar body, whichincludes arms holding the bow and arrow.

In an embodiment, the server 106 receives and considers subsequentstates of an object from more than one client device. In thisembodiment, more than one client device is a physics host. When thesubsequent states of the object are received from the physics hosts, theserver 106 compares the results and determines a subsequent state towrite to the collection of document objects for retrieval by the clientdevices participating in the instance based on consensus between thephysics hosts. In a further embodiment, client devices that are outliersbecause the subsequent states returned therefrom are consistentlydifferent from the other physics hosts may be marked as unreliable sothat such client devices are not selected as physics hosts when futuremove object communications are received at the server 106.

Performing physics calculations uses a large amount of processing timeand resources. By relying on one of the client devices to calculatephysics for the system 100, efficiency is improved because the server isnot burdened with storing detailed geometry of a large number of objectsin memory and performing complex physics calculations. Allowing theserver 106 to select the physics host from the client devices furtherincreases efficiency because the server 106 is able to select a clientdevice(s) that has sufficient processing availability, for example.Further, because the physics host is a client, no data is sent betweenthe server 106 and the physics host because the physics host already hasall of the information required to perform the physics calculations.

The above-described embodiments are intended to be examples only.Alterations, modifications and variations can be effected to theparticular embodiments by those of skill in the art without departingfrom the scope of the present application, which is defined solely bythe claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for operating a virtual environment, themethod comprising: creating a simulated environment utilizing at leasttwo of a plurality of service providers operating in concert, whereinthe plurality of service providers are distributed across a plurality ofdevices; adding a client computer as an additional service provider. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the adding is carried out based on anamount of processing required of the plurality of service providers. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the adding a client computer as anadditional service provider includes selecting the client computer basedat least in part on processing power of the client computer.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the adding a client computer as an additionalservice provider includes selecting the client computer based at leastin part on network connection latency of the client computer.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein a computer network system includes one ormore service providers operating as instance hosts.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein a new instance is created based at least in part ontime intervals.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein a new instance iscreated based at least in part on avatar user requests.
 8. The method ofclaim 5, wherein a new instance is created based at least in part onavailability of objects within each instance.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein avatars are automatically transported to a different virtuallocation when a threshold event occurs.
 10. A method for operating avirtual environment, the method comprising: hosting at least one serviceprovider on a client computer, converting, by the service provider,document objects encoded in a descriptive language into one of a 3-D,2.5-D or 2-D modeled object; and sending a result of the conversion toat least one other client computer.
 11. The method of claim 10, whereinthe document objects encoded in a descriptive language is converted intoat least a 3-D modeled object.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein thedocument objects encoded in a descriptive language is converted into atleast a 2.5-D modeled object.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein thedocument objects encoded in a descriptive language is converted into atleast a 2-D modeled object.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein thedocument objects include at least one boundary.
 15. A method foroperating a virtual environment, the method comprising: instantiating,using a server, a new instance of a scene, the new instance instantiatedutilizing data stored in memory, one or more client devices displayingthe new instance, at least one of the one or more client devices beingselected as a physics hosts; the server providing parameters to at leastone of the physics hosts as to the physics rules governing theenvironment being simulated; wherein the selection of one or more clientdevices to act as a physics host is made based at least in part on oneof (a) latency of data transmission from the client; (b) processingavailability of the client; or (c) trusted status of the client; atleast one of the client devices selected to act as a physics hostreceiving data from a client, processing said data according to theprovided parameters; and transmitting the results of the data processingaccording to the provided parameters to the client.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the selection of one or more client devices to act asa physics host is made based at least in part on latency of datatransmission from the client.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein theselection of one or more client devices to act as a physics host is madebased at least in part on processing availability of the client.
 18. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the selection of one or more client devicesto act as a physics host is made based at least in part on trustedstatus of the client.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein the parametersprovided by the server correspond with one of (a) underwater physics or(b) physics corresponding with conditions in space.
 20. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the at least one client device selected as a physicshost is granted a greater level of access to a collection of documentobjects at the server than other client devices.